by Amy Cissell
But if they weren’t official representatives of the Fae, they might not know us both.
I decided it was better to err on the side of extreme caution. Isaac and I sat inside at a booth to eat our burgers and fries. After scarfing down our food, we went back out to the bike and drove off. Isaac was driving slower this time, and as we made our way to Hill City, I saw Finn trailing us in the car.
Isaac pulled into a motel parking lot, and I watched as Finn drove by without a sideways glance. After a long spiel on how lucky we were that the previous occupants had decided to go home a day early—otherwise we’d be up a creek with no paddle, what with the Rally and all, and isn’t that lucky since we were such a nice young couple, not like some of those other bikers, Hell’s Angels, you know—we finally got the key to our room and escaped the garrulous desk clerk.
I pushed the shield out and took a full breath.
“Where were the spies?” Isaac asked. “Was it that awful smelling hedge?”
“Nope, that was completely natural. It was the petunias.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. I think it was spy, singular, and that the spy was in the earth, kind of like a root system, and the petunias were the sensory organs sent up into the air?”
“You’re asking me? Like I have any idea. Nicely spotted, though.”
“Credit Finn. His ignoring us was my clue.”
“I hope he finds us, but not too soon.”
“Why?” I asked, suddenly a lot warmer. “Did you have something in mind?”
Isaac laughed. “Not this time,” he replied. I squelched my disappointment. “I don’t want him to lead the spy here. One night to discuss strategy without being overheard would be good.”
I pouted, and he laughed.
An hour later, there was a light knock on the door.
“Let me in,” Finn said.
I opened the door and Isaac stood up. “I’m going to head back to the other hotel to grab any essentials we’ve left there. Finn, do you need me to grab anything of yours?”
“There’s nothing I can’t live without. Are you taking the bike?”
Isaac shook his head. “I need to run off some of this aggression, and I want to smell what spies are on the motel for myself.”
“You’re going to run the whole way?” Finn asked.
“That will take hours,” I objected. “Wolves can only run about five miles per hour for sustained periods.”
Isaac laughed. “Your research skills are impressive, but I’m not a wolf, Princess. I can run quite a bit faster than that. I’m no cheetah, but I can maintain about twenty miles per hour for quite some time. I’ll be back in less than four hours.”
I checked the clock. It was eight.
“If you’re not back by midnight, I’m sending out a search party.”
“I’ll be back with your sword and your backpack.”
“How will you carry everything?”
Isaac smiled and walked out the door. I walked to the window and watched him stroll casually to the edge of the parking lot. As he melted into the tree line across the street I saw a light flash before he completely disappeared from view.
I sighed loudly as I turned back towards the room.
“What’s wrong, Eleanor?”
“Nothing. And everything.” I straightened my spine, determined to be strong. “It’s been a long day. Dominance fights, and witches, and bison, oh my!”
“I guess Isaac won the fight this morning.”
“He did. Christ, I can’t believe that was this morning. It seems like weeks ago. This has been a long-ass day.”
“Do you want to tell me about the fight?”
“There’s not much to tell. Isaac kicked ass. Something happened before the fight that made him angry. He won’t talk about it, though. He says that it’s nothing to do with me. I’m a little worried.”
Finn chucked me under the chin. “Buck up, little cowpoke. If he says it’s fine and not relevant, let it go until it becomes an issue.”
I sighed. “I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t like seeing my friends hurting, and that anger was so powerful, it must have been painful.”
“Move on, Eleanor. What else happened today?”
“We’re being spied on by some increasingly ept plants. Isaac is completely insane on that bike of his and played chicken with a bison, and I got a decent location lock on the gate. We have coordinates and a direction to narrow it down.
“What about you? How was your day?”
“Wait, I have clarifying questions. Ept? Is that a word?”
“It is now. At first the spies were inept, but now they’re less so. Therefore, they are ept. Go with it, Finn.”
“Second question—why chicken with a bison? Were buffalo wings involved?”
“Ha. No. Isaac probably didn’t want it to get away with thinking it was dominant.”
“Sounds fun.”
I snorted.
“Last question,” Finn said. “You found the gate? Shouldn’t you have led with that?”
“I haven’t found it, but I have a much better idea on the where-ish. Still plenty of work to do. Enough stalling. What was your day like?”
“Not nearly as eventful as yours. I didn’t challenge any local wildlife to single combat, I saw zero suspicious plants, ept or otherwise, and I didn’t get to watch a shifter fight.”
“They didn’t even fight as wolves. It was a fist fight. Isaac was pretty awesome, though.”
“I’m sure he was.”
“Nothing to report?”
“Nothing. Let’s talk more about where you’re feeling the gate energy.”
I retrieved my backpack and fished out the notebook. I read the coordinates and bearings to Finn, and he marked them on our map. He drew some lines and then looked up. “We need at least one more coordinate to start narrowing it down.”
“I was thinking we need to head further north to see where the southerly pull is. It’s a good thing we have so much time.”
“Six weeks may seem like a long time, but it took you almost that long to find the first gate in a much smaller area.”
“I know, but I can feel this one so much more strongly than the last. Either the gate magic is stronger or I am. Possibly both. I’d like to get a general location narrowed down so we can spend the rest of the time working on ways to contain the power so it doesn’t send out a lethal magical pulse.”
He looked at me without comment.
“I won’t forget, Finn. I’d rather take the power into myself and suffer whatever consequences than be responsible for dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths. I won’t open the gate without precautions now that I know.”
“And that’s why you shouldn’t have been told,” he muttered. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to hear that. I did not, however, ignore it.
“Don’t tell me you’re okay with this.”
He looked at me, and for the first time, I felt weight of his age. “People are always dying, Eleanor. This is no different than casualties of war. Their lives are nothing more than a moment in time. What difference does it make if they end on this blink or the next? Better them than you. You are important. You can save our world and this one. If a few people die to make that happen, that is the price this world should pay for what the inhabitants have done to it.”
I stared at him, mouth agape. It made sense he’d regard life differently than I did since he’d lived so much more of it. It was baffling to me, though, that he would have so little regard for human life. I needed time to process this side of him. There’d been hints of it the other night, but this level of callousness was new.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” I went into the small room and closed the door. This was not okay, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.
“Eleanor,” Finn said, knocking loudly. “Are you about done in there?”
Eleanor. He’d been calling me Eleanor all night. This was weird. I couldn’t shake the suspicion that this Fae was no
t Finn.
“Almost!” I called. “I’m going to take a shower. It’s been a long day.”
“Make it snappy,” he replied. “I want to talk more about the location.”
I turned on the shower and banged about for a while. I flushed the toilet to muffle the noise and pulled the screen out of the small window. I stepped on the toilet and opened the window. There was no one on this side of the motel. I dropped through the window lightly, figuring I had about fifteen minutes before “Finn” broke down the door.
I was alone with no money, no sword, no phone, and no way to get in touch with either Isaac or real Finn.
Wait a minute! I could totally contact Finn. I headed to the same trees Isaac had disappeared into. I sank to the ground, opened my shields a bit, and screamed, “Finn” as loud as I could with my mind.
When Finn popped into existence in front of me, I jumped back about three feet and stumbled over a tree root. He looked like motel room Finn. Was I crazy? Too paranoid?
I stared at him. He stared back.
“What’s up, Ellie? You about blew out my mental eardrums with that scream.”
I flung myself into his arms. He staggered back a step before catching me and hugging me back. His grip tightened too much, though, and I stepped back, forcing him to let me go, which he did reluctantly.
“There’s a not-Finn in my motel room.”
“Where’s Isaac?”
“Before I tell you, how do I know you’re Finn?”
“How would you have me prove myself?”
“What’s my favorite movie?”
He rolled his eyes. “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
“Favorite meal?”
“Pizza and beer.”
“Favorite color?”
“Fuck if I know. You wear a lot of black.”
“Fair enough, and you did call me Ellie, so that’s a good sign, even if I still hate it. What do we do about the interloper? He’s going to realize I’m missing any second now. And where have you been?” I punched him. Hard.
“Ouch! I was at a bar down the street watching for spies and trying to leave a fair amount of time between you and Isaac hitting the motel and me showing up.”
“Finn, I need to know something. How do you feel about the possibility that hundreds of humans could die every time I open a gate?”
He cocked his head to one side and looked at me. “Not sure I’m following, Ellie.”
“Answer the question.”
“It’s regrettable. I’m hopeful we can find a way to mitigate the effects.”
“You don’t think that humans are acceptable losses; casualties of war?”
“I’ve lived here for most of my 450-ish years, Ellie. This isn’t a war to me. Your safety is my primary concern, but I won’t kill if it’s not necessary to protect you.”
“You’re much cooler than not-Finn.”
He smiled at me, but the sardonic twist of his lips gave away his bitterness. “Want to find out who’s impersonating me?”
“Probably a good idea. Especially since he has the coordinates on our map and could narrow down the gate location with them. He’s probably memorized it already, but I would like my notes back at least.”
“Wait! You found the gate?”
“This is so weird. I’ve already had this conversation. We’ll be able to narrow it down quickly with one more reading for triangulation purposes. Isaac is on his way back to the last motel to grab my sword and some other stuff. Now, let’s go find out who’s in our room, dispatch them if possible, then you can tesser us back to the Rapid City motel so we arrive ahead of Isaac. We can regroup and find a new place tomorrow.”
I put on my Alpha Bitch Face, took a deep breath, and said, “Let’s do it.”
We marched out of the woods and crossed the road to the motel. I knocked on the door while Finn stayed back out of sight. The door opened slightly and not-Finn’s face peered out. The door was flung open. “Eleanor!” he said. “Where were you? I was worried sick.” He grabbed my arm to pull me into the room. As soon as my feet crossed the threshold, Finn appeared behind me. Not-Finn looked a little pale, even for an Irishish elf imitator. “Who is this imposter?”
Finn laughed. “Next time you decide to play a part, you might want to learn your lines; you missed a few earlier.”
Not-Finn glared, and his skin started rippling. The waves of color and light were nauseating, and I had to avert my eyes. When I looked up, an impossibly thin creature stood in front of me.
“I had to see for myself.” His voice was rough, and he had more than the human number of fingers. The mossy branches that sprang from his head instead of hair brushed against the ceiling. He reminded me a bit of Arduinna, but I knew he was something different.
“What are you?” I breathed.
“It’s more polite to ask, ‘Who are you?’ isn’t it?”
“I’m not taking a manners lesson from someone who impersonated a friend of mine to ferret out my secrets.”
Green light glinted in his eyes. “I don’t think you know what game you’re playing, little girl. You may as well be human for all the good you’re doing. Trying to avoid your duty because you care for these creatures? They are nothing more than termites, eating away at the structure of this world. Humans have all but destroyed it, and you want to save them? You are weak.”
The heat of my anger grew. Steam rose in thin wisps from my arms. The fire had no outlet; I hadn’t yet figured out how to do anything but set off a smoke detector.
The tree creature laughed. “You don’t even know how to use your magic. It would almost be merciful to kill you and start over.”
“I didn’t think mercy was your thing.”
Finn stepped in front of me, carving an elegant figure eight with the two swords he hadn’t been carrying earlier. The creature laughed and thrust an arm towards Finn. One of the swords sank in less than a quarter of an inch and stuck. “Your pointy sticks cannot hurt me.”
I shook my knives from my arm sheaths into my hands and whipped them towards the Fae. One bounced off a knot in his skin, but the second sank into his eye. He howled in pain, and the walls shook.
Finn grabbed me. “Remember the flowers!”
As far as battle cries went, it wasn’t as inspiring as “Remember the Alamo!” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Decapitate the flowers!” he yelled.
Then, I remembered. I tried to recall how I’d felt when I’d deadheaded my houseplants with my mind. I concentrated my anger and directed it towards this thing. The howling broke off, and he started to gasp. That gave me another idea, and I used my shields in a different way. I took them and wrapped them around our attacker. I imagined them solid. When he gasped again, I shoved that idea down his throat. He choked. I looked away.
A few minutes or hours or days later, Finn tugged on my arm.
“You can let go now, Ellie,” he said softly.
I turned back around. There was a huge Hawthorn tree in the middle of the room. Its branches were brittle, and several had snapped off. The trunk looked rotten in the center, and the leaves were brown and dead.
I started shaking. I’d never deliberately killed anyone before.
Finn put his arms around me and held me until the shudders wracking my body stopped.
He stuffed his backpack full of the few things we had. He left Isaac’s motorcycle keys and the room key on the bed with a handful of hundred dollar bills. Then he put the backpack on, wrapped his arms around me, and we blinked out.
It wasn’t as horrible as last time, but the trip from Hill City to Rapid City was still awful. When we were solid again, I fell retching onto the floor. Finn collapsed next to me.
We laid there for a few minutes, trying to recover. I glanced at my watch. It was nine. Longest day ever.
Finn recovered before I did. “What time did Isaac think he’d get here?”
“He thought he’d be here and back in four hours, so I’m guessing sometim
e between 9:30 and 10.” I stood long enough to stumble over to the bed and collapse.
“I’m going to get us something to eat and drink, but I’ll be back before you know it.” Finn disappeared.
I sat on the bed, staring at nothing for a while, trying hard not to think about what I’d done. I’d felt him die. I’d made him die. I shook my head and stood up. I pulled my sword out from under the mattress and belted it on. I checked my throwing knives. Then, I went into the bathroom and washed my hands and face. And then, I washed again.
Less than ten minutes later, Finn reappeared with two large meat pizzas and a twelve-pack of beer.
I stared, suddenly ravenous. “I’m in love.”
Finn looked up, “Ellie—.”
“Those are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”
He laughed and managed to almost hide the strain in his voice. “I should’ve known you were talking about the food.”
“Don’t forget the beer,” I teased.
The low metallic rasp of a key sliding into a lock caused me to draw my sword. Finn’s wielded a short sword and a long knife like an RPG rogue. The door opened, and Isaac put up his hands when he saw the amount of steel pointed his way.
“What the everlasting fuck, you guys!”
Finn sheathed his sword back into wherever it was that he kept them. He reached forward with his free hand and pulled Isaac into the room and closed the door. He looked at me and asked, “Are we clear?”
I double-checked that my shields were covering the whole room and nodded.
Finn’s held his knife to Isaac’s throat.
“Who are you?” he growled.
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
“Yes, I fucking am.”